Healing Beauty
by Hearts of the Innocent
Summary: "Beauty heals. Like these flowers, its presence can be slight and feeble but its touch is indefinite. It comforts." EdWin
1. Chaos

A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back with a lovely onesot for my faithful readers. Lately I've been re-inspired in my war tales and this is only one of the results. Though, this idea is not entirely my own. It is a story all its own told in the hospitals of WWII. I hoped to create even a pale imitation of such a touching story. It is rated T for some slightly details of war.

Please read and enjoy.

_**Summary:** "Beauty heals. Like these flowers, its presence can be slight and feeble but its touch is indefinite. It comforts." EdWin_

* * *

**I**t was with quick, no-nonsense strokes that she wiped the crusting blood off the steel frame of the hospital pallet. Winry's ministrations were precise and thorough, and she did not flinch to the testimony of pain that now stained her rag. For three years she had served as a nurse in the midst of WWII and it was all the time needed to harden her stomach against the sight of it.

But the heart could not be so well guarded.

Compassion was not a necessary quality in a nurse because they were so desperately needed but it helped. Too much of it tended to leave the heart open and easily disturbed and Winry knew this too well. A night had not passed that she did not dream of the faces of dead men.

Her hand paused before dipping the rag into the cold, soapy water. The cleansing substance had adapted to a pale colored rust and made her think twice. When the water stilled, Winry caught the eye of her reflection in its murky depths and had to force herself not to flinch. Even if it wasn't an adequate mirror, the deep shadows beneath her eyes were clearly seen and her lips a ghostly comparison to her face. She considered reaching for the single tube of lipstick she carried in her pocket but decided against it. There was no concealing her paleness. Even her hair was in a horrid disarray and she tried to smooth it back with her free hand. Beauty was such a fleeting thing, and it appeared she had lost it long before she had a chance to cultivate it. Or rather, she'd lost any sense of it when she gave her career for the welfare of others. She could not help but be envious of some of her coworkers who always seemed so pristine.

"Winry, have you taken your break yet?"

She looked up from the bucket at Noah whose critical eye quickly assessed the sparkling beds that laid in Winry's wake. A small smile curved her sculpted features.

"Go on," she tilted her head toward the break room, "take your fifteen in the back. We'll have a truckload soon enough again."

Too weary to argue, Winry picked herself up with a mumbled "thank you", ignoring the twinge in her muscles as she did so. Perhaps it was carved into her personality, but in her commute to the break room she couldn't completely disregard her work, stopping by the beds of a few of her patience to gently place her hand upon their clammy brows. Most were asleep but some stared beyond her with haunted eyes.

She prayed for them. At that point it was all she could do.

* * *

The cold water was a shock to her face but it helped her mind focus. Now was not the time to give into her exhaustion. Her next shift was about to start. Around her, in the close-knit quarters, were four other nurses—two of which she considered close personal friends. The other two spoke loudly and without restrain and Winry found more often than not she would block their voices out. But now she cocked her head to the side when the stinging smell of smoke filled her nostrils.

"There's no smoking in here, Bernice. You know that." Winry's quiet reprimand earned her a sneer from the lanky woman's face. Since first stationed there, Bernice had always been a ridiculing thorn in Winry's side. She had all the meanness of a bitch guarding her pups, only she had no pups. It had taken nearly a year for Winry to completely disregard all the snide comments that came her way from the woman.

"Keeps me young." Her sarcasm was heavy but her measuring eyes returned to the open door of the break room.

"Look at that wench, Helen," The woman addressed turned away from the mirror and from following her lips with a blood red tube to gaze to the door where Noah could be seen sitting next to a wounded man's pallet. "Even with that color their eyes follow her like she were wearing nothin' at all."

"Bernice!" Helen scolded with false audacity. "She might hear you!"

"Then let her come. She ain't nothing compared to me."

"I swear, Bernice, you have all the gumption and class of a flapper."

At this point their conversation fell upon deaf ears as Winry too watched the eyes of the soldier who gazed intently at Noah's face. Whatever it was, it wasn't lust that lined the man's features. He was too ill to be feeling any of the sort. But still, his eyes clung to Noah's lovely profile as if it were a lifeline to the world around him, and one that he feared to let go of. Noah's dusky hand gently brushed aside the hair from the soldier's face as if he were a child. Her lips moved but Winry was too far to hear what she said. In response, the soldier nodded, his eyes closing slowly and Noah departed.

"Like a dog…"

Fortunately the comment was overwhelmed by the sharp sound of the alarm bells sounding overhead. A hand to her shoulder brought Winry's eyes to Riza, who gave a short nod.

"Break is over. Let's go."

* * *

Chaos erupted the minute the wounded were unloaded on the Army base and every available nurse swarmed to their aid. Every pallet, every blanket was used until no more could be found and screaming men were forced to lay in wait along the hospital walls. It didn't take long for the sickly smell of open flesh to disperse around the building and only medical masks were worn as its combatant. But nothing could hinder the painful screams and groans from the ear. Even more men were laid in the hall for a surgery that might never come.

Determination was set deeply in the lines of Winry's face as the terror progressed. Bodies were seared to the bone and belies were stitched together with a weak thread. There was little she hadn't seen in this hospital but it still didn't remove the initial shock at such monstrosity.

"Winry!" Her head snapped up from the gash she'd began to sew on a soldier's thigh when Czeska's voice sounded through the chaos. Sweat beaded the corners of the girl's glasses.

"I'll take over for you here. Riza wants you in surgery."

Quickly, Czeska took the needle from her hand and Winry power walked toward the surgery room. Her pace quickened when a man's shouts echoed forcefully past the door and down the hallway. She burst through that same door.

"I'm here." Even as she said it, she donned on the apron, hard-pressed not to stare in shock at the convulsing man on the table. Two Grunts pressed their weights heavily against his arms and still his shoulders managed to rock up as he roared in fury and in anguish. Noah stood by his head with a needle cocked in her hand, attempting to sooth the man so she would not miss his vein. Blood pooled on the table by his leg and only then did Winry realize that he was an amputee. How a man could have this much strength—even after loosing a part of himself she did not know.

Riza struggled with the straps around his whole leg. "Winry! The needle!"

With no hesitation, Winry grabbed the needle from Noah's hand and zeroed in on his arm. But with another astounding feat of strength, the man pulled free of Riza's hold on his leg and his Knee hit the center of her back and she fell forward. His face was suddenly a foot closer than she'd ever wanted him to be and golden eyes full of rage glared up at her. "_Let me go." _His words came through clenched teeth.

"What is his name?" Noah's face turned incredulous at Winry's question.

"What is his _name_!"

It must have been her urgency that propelled Noah to answer. "Edward Elric!"

"Edward," her tone dropped and she tore away her mask. If they didn't stabilize him quickly he could cause even more damage to himself or to one of the nurses. "Edward, look at me. You are _okay_. No one here will harm you." The heat in his eyes did not lessen. Like she had seen Noah do earlier, she placed her hand on the side of his face and prayed he'd see the sincerity in her eyes. "We want to help you. I _promise_ you no one here will harm you. I won't let them."

Thirty seconds lingered as Winry watched the bone along his sharp features clench and as the muscles in his arms strained against a struggle. Another opportunity could not be waited for. Noah took the needle from Winry's outstretched hand and quickly injected it in his arm. Only then did the wounded soldier tear his eyes away from Winry's to glare at the people around him.

"_Damn you all!" _The fury in his voice sent a shiver running up her spine. His lids began to droop until finally his limbs became limp. Everyone in the room could not conceal their sigh of relief that he had finally fallen under the meds. It was Riza who first to broke the silence.

"I knew he was going to be a _hot pilot_ from the moment I laid eyes on him."

* * *

It wasn't until a full twenty-four hours had passed that things began to slow down into a sort of chaotic order. They were still terribly understaffed and supplies were becoming dangerously low. Riza, who was second only to the head nurse, sent word for a replenishment of both but nothing had yet been heard. Unfortunately, a medical facility was only as good as its staff and supplies. There could be no argument in that.

It had been nearly forty-eight hours and Winry had only been running of coffee and catnaps. Belatedly, she only remembered this when she begun to sway on her feet. She was no fool to completely neglect her body's need for rest, but she couldn't prevent her eyes from flickering to the corner cot where the man called Edward lay quiet. He still had yet to pull away from the morphine—his wounds had been so extensive she feared he might not pull out. During his time in the operation room, they had been forced to saw another portion of his leg to make the cut a clean one. He also suffered from four cracked ribs and a bullet in the shoulder to follow suit. The surgery had been extensive and it had left everyone exhausted.

It was Noah who sat by his bedside. Winry gave a quiet prayer of gratitude that it wasn't Bernice.

She went to the back and slept.

* * *

A firm shake to her shoulder jolted Winry from her slumber.

"Winry, wake up."

"Riza?"

"Yes." There was a smile hidden in her voice. "Now wake up. Your charge needs you."

That brought her wide awake. "My _what?"_

"Lt. Elric. I've designated you his nurse."

She nearly scoffed at her superior. No one was designated a single nurse. "Why?"

"He won't cooperate with any of the girls. He's been in a foul mood since his eyes opened. You were able to calm him down in surgery. See if you can at least talk him into letting you see his dressing."

Anything she might have said was silenced by her disbelief. Did this man ever slow down or did he just naturally carry all the characteristics of a mule? A complete laceration of his leg couldn't even slow him down! She wondered if he was this mean when he was well.

Disheveled from her sleep, the young nurse could feel the sudden droop to her ponytail and could see the blonde tendrils whisk around her face. She definitely was not something to behold, yet she did not waste any time for personal vanity. With a quick splash of water to the face, Winry paused only to grab a glass and a silver pitcher of water. If he was awake then there was no doubt he would be thirsty.

His body was listless when she saw him and his breathing shallow but steady. As was habit, her hand came to dutifully rest on his brow. Edward was warm but thankfully had no fever. The shadows beneath his closed lids were a testament to his exhaustion, and because of his seemingly deep sleep Winry had no qualms in quietly lifting up his blanket to check his bandages.

"What are you doing?"

The rough, grated voice made her jerk in surprise and his narrowed eyes watched her with a fierceness equal to when he was first brought in. She forced herself to relax.

"I'm checking your bandages. If I don't they will soil and the infection we are trying so hard to avoid will settle in."

Those burning irises held her where she stood until he blinked and she was yet again freed from the fire.

"I don't need your help." He said.

His answer was filled with loathing. Most of the men who ended up here struggled with the severe bitterness.

"Are you always so ornery, Lt. Elric?" She gave a slight smile when his sharp gaze fastened back on her. Then she said, more quietly, "We all need help in this war, Lt. Elric."

The fire in his eyes did not lessen, but he let her check his wounds.

* * *

_I know it's similar to my other two stories, but I promise the outcome will be different as will its moral. As for updates, fear not, there will only be one more installment before it's finished. I hope to have it posted within the next couple of weeks._

_If you enjoyed this story, drop a review for support :) It would be much appreciated. _

**_Hearts of the Innocent_**


	2. Comfort

I know… an update. Sorry guys for the delay. Graduation…college… life just got in the way. Please excuse the mistakes. I have no beta.

Also I know my writing has slowed down. My other account is virtually dead. But on a positive note, FMA is the only fandom I still have inspiration to write for. So you WILL be seeing me in the future!

But here is the final installment for Healing Beauty. It has been written, rewritten, and revised for your ultimate enjoyment. Reviews would be lovely.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

* * *

_A few weeks later…_

**T**he ever nagging and unsettling feeling of being watched never left Winry as she worked on through the following weeks. Yet each time she would casually wipe the back of her hand against her brow and give a quick glance around. No one she could see was paying her any mind. The day crawled by in a steady blur; slow but with no opportunity to remain idle. The hospital had arrived to a state of physical and mental exhaustion, moving forward was nearly impossible yet they knew that they must.

Bernice's personality had simmered down since the heavy flow of patients and work but it had definitely not died. Walking towards the east side of the room with a bundle of wildflowers in hand, she was graced the smirking blood red lips of the elder nurse.

"Taking notes from the witch woman, Winny, dear?"

Winry walked on, familiar with the old taunt. Her personality never allowed for confrontation easily. Whenever she did lash out in anger, whether she'd been in the right or not, she always ended up feeling worse about herself and weak. Not responding was her way of retaliation. It was the Lord that said if you were kind to your enemies it was the same as pouring hot coals over their heads. This thought brought the dimple back to her cheek. Maybe she should make a little more effort to be nice…

But on a somber note, it was not wise for these wounded to witness their nurses quarreling amongst themselves.

"You have far more patience than I ever could." It was the first time Lt. Edward had spoken in greeting. She was both surprised and pleased; the former that he had even been listening to the conversation.

"A nurse must have that kind of patience, Lt. Elric, for dealing with stubborn patients like _you_."

He took her jab with only quick glare. "Edward. Please. I'm sick of any sort of status and I don't need to be reminded of it."

"Okay then, Edward."

They fell into the familiar patient/nurse silence and Winry took the opportunity to unravel one of the small bundles of wildflowers and place them in an old canning jar on his bedside table. By chance she caught the look in his eyes and the nearly horizontal position in his eyebrows and nearly laughed.

"Don't worry, Edward, I'm not wooing you. I bring them to all of our men who are in here for more than a few weeks."

"Why?"

It was his first word that hadn't been tainted with bitterness.

"Beauty heals, Mr. Elric. Like these flowers, its presence is slight and feeble; often overlooked but its touch is indefinite. It comforts. I swore that I would do all that I can for men like yourself."

The wounded man sitting before her had grown silent and the crevasses in his brow had become more pronounced and deeper than ever. It was not fair, she thought, that men like him should suffer.

* * *

It was how a cry in the midst of Armageddon would sound in Winry's mind.

Having stepped outside for a breather, she heard the wretched hair rising cry long before she saw the familiar green carrier. A second later the warning bell was wrung and the bustle within the hospital station increased tenfold. It was only after the vehicle drew closer that she realized that it contained only five wounded. Three of the soldiers in accompaniment were devoted to holding down a single, thrashing man. _His _was the voice she had heard.

"_Let me go, you filthy bastards! Damn you all and burn in hell, fucking foreigners!"_

Winry flinched, still unaccustomed to the brash use of language. The man's case was quickly related to those who came to assist. His name was Daniel, a marine grunt and declared delusional. And with the gaping hole in his chest it was not hard to defer with one's own judgment that he was also close to an end. Her heart ached. Daniel was a man who in his dying moments would be forever caught in the hallucination of a war he had fought so long and so hard for.

How long must these men fight? How long were they to be stripped of peace?

Assigned by Riza to the thrashing man along with three other nurses, she followed the soldiers to an empty pallet where the wounded man was quickly restrained. He fought them every step of the way. He reminded her of Edward when he first came in. The women shied away from his flailing arms and the men focused on subduing him. Daniel's bulging, red eyes dashed from person to person until they found hers. They widened.

"_Sophie?"_

He settled and the grunts relaxed their hold at Riza's command but still hovered in an anticipatory standby.

"You're here?" His voice had grown hoarse.

Feeling uneasy but compelled to do anything to help calm him, she answered, "You're at the hospital, Daniel. You're in safe hands now."

So many emotions passed through his countenance in that instant that they found it hard to judge what he might do.

A knot formed in her stomach.

Daniel cried out the name of his beloved once more and grasped her hand so tight she feared it might bruise. Winry leaned forward, brushing the matted hair from his eyes and focused on soothing him with whispered words. The crowd around them quietly dispersed.

"I always thought of you, Soph. It's what gave me hope." He pressed a small silver locket into her palm. It felt heated against her skin. "Do you still love me?"

"I always loved you."

His cloudy eyes calmed. "I was always faithful to you."

She felt his hand on hers loosen and lag. In his dying moments he had become a different man. Another testament that war was stripping more from these men than their livelihoods and families. It was shattering their very soul. But in that moment a veil of peace—of pure contentment fell upon him like a death sheet. The solder's clammy skin had begun to whiten and his eyes grew distant. Winry placed a gentle kiss to his beaten brow and watched the soldier slowly fade.

"Safe journey home, my brave, _brave_ soldier."

From across the room Edward watched the unfolded scene with a stricken expression. A single tear had escaped his eye; the only evidence to the tremendous weight upon his heart.

* * *

Riza had allowed her to take leave for the following two hours and emotionally spent, Winry sat in a bathroom stall and wept. No one came for her, and for that she was deeply grateful. Occurrences such as the one with Daniel happened but only rarely, and when they did people tended to stay as far from you as possible. None knew how to offer comfort.

Some time passed before Noah walked in. Her quiet footsteps made Winry muffle her sobs as best she could. Noah's shoes stopped in front of her stall; she knocked softly.

"Winry?"

"Yeah?

"Can I come in?"

In a single jerky movement she managed to slap away the lock from its holder. The door swung open.

There was no awkwardness in her soft features, no condemnation, only a compassion that brought tears back into her already red eyes. Wordless, Noah knelt to her knees before Winry's seat on the commode and pulled her into an embrace. When her head conceded and lay against Noah's shoulder, they began to rock gently. Winry wept again.

"What you did was right."

"I lied-"

"And in his dying moments you brought him peace. Winry, this tragedy has taken the lives of so many. But their ending, along with yours and mine, everyone who has been hurt will be so beautiful…"

* * *

She was worn and haggard. Exhausted from lack of sleep and emotionally beaten down, the rest of the day didn't hold much hope. But none of this was about her and she knew she must cease thinking so selfishly. She was a nurse: duty bound to serve those who are sick and wounded. And it was her life… She hardened her heart to the memory of Daniel.

Hope was returned to her heart at the sight of Edward no longer prostrate. A sheen of sweat could be seen on his face and his was complexion pale, but he was sitting up.

"You're sitting up!" The joy could not be denied in her voice. She had not expected it for a while longer.

Edward's face remained firm but he inclined his head to her praise. "I'm not the type of man who stays in bed."

"I image so…" she smiled wryly. "Your leg is healing up very nicely. You're still far from being out of the woods but at least you're closer to getting out of here. Do you have any family in the sates, Mr. Elric?"

His pause became a pregnant one as Winry continued to check him over. He spoke, "A younger brother. But I haven't seen him in years." There was a new tone in his voice, it had grown weary. "We were deployed to separate continents for the war. I don't even know if he's still alive."

"Then I guess you still have a job to do, big brother." She said it so nonchalantly that he glanced up with such sharpness that she feared he had flinched from the cool rag she had brought to wipe the sweat from his face.

"Sorry."

Unbeknownst to her, she had just struck the innermost core to his fear. The thought of being an invalid, of being useless was a raging terror that Ed would never admit to. With the laceration of his leg that fate seemed inevitable. But he was known to be a stubborn man.

"I guess I do."

He saw her secret smile and his chest constricted. "Can I ask a favor of you?" He asked.

"Of course."

"Could you put on some lipstick while I'll watch?"

The young nurse looked to his expression. He was serious… yet she saw in him a man longing for a hope he had been deprived of. She also saw the shadow of a man that once was and she loved him for it. Wordlessly, she pulled out the single tube of lipstick that had ridden in her pocket every day without ever seeing use. She used it sparingly since she had no mirror to help guide her. Though she had no practice, following her lips with the soft pink substance seemed easy, perhaps because Edward watched her so intently she thought only of him.

When she finished he gave a small, sad smile. The first she had ever seen from him.

"You were right. Beauty heals. Thank you, Ms. Winry."

Winry Rockbell would never again meet anyone else like Lt. Edward Elric. Though time would keep moving on, it was this story that would forever live within the hospital walls. It was a story of hope told for any who were waiting desperately for the brighter days to return, any who were willing to listen.

It was a tale of true beauty…

_:End:_

_The last scene was probably the hardest to write. In simulated it in my mind over and over and I didn't know how to make the transition smooth and believable. This was what came of it. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it._

_As far as a sequel... Depending on the feedback, I plan on making a few drabbles for later years to maybe tie up a few loose ends. So look for that in the hopefully near future. _

_Thanks for reading and your thoughts or CC is always welcomed!_

_Hearts of the Innocent_


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